Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Four Things Jane Austen Actually Teaches Us About Love

Yesterday, we stumbled upon this rather horrible opinion column at Fox News (was that redundant?) in which the author explains how women are hormonally destined to like Jane Austen, and imparts four important lessons supposedly gleaned from the writer’s oeuvre, required reading “if you’re a woman who’s looking for Mr. Right and getting nowhere.” Those are: “play hard to get,” “wait for sex,” “make your guy feel important,” and “put down your sword” (because “despite what you’ve heard, men don’t love b*tches”). Wait, we think we might have been reading different books. After the jump, we clarify what Jane Austen actually teaches both men and women about love in the modern age. … Read More